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Your Views: Compressing recycled items would cut costs
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Recycling is a tremendous way to save our landfills, and by the looks of each station I have been to, the county residents are doing their job, almost.

The bins only hold so much, but could hold much more if people would smash down or compress whatever their plastics, especially milk jugs, detergent containers, soda bottles, aluminum cans and metal fruit and vegetable cans.

I realize that you have huge machines to do this job, but the department would save gas and man hours if the people would do just a little more to help before placing the items in the bins.

It would seem as though there are not many of you who remember our efforts during World War II when we had to wash and remove both ends of the tin cans before we set them on our curbs in baskets for recycling for the war effort. It wouldn't hurt the population now to make the extra effort to help.

Please don't "pooh pooh" my suggestion. Public announcements from your department on radio and television, as well as in the newspaper could help in this. I realize this would not be a popular suggestion, but think of the money the department would save over the years.

I'm just trying to be a good citizen. Won't you help, too?

Beverly J. Pool
Gainesville

Clear-cutting of trees could lead to runoff problems
Would someone from the Georgia Department of Transportation please explain the logic behind the current clear-cutting of trees on slopes along Cleveland Highway?

The results of this denuding of hillsides is twofold: It's ugly, and it's environmentally suspect. I can't wait for the root systems of these thousands of trees to die, and the ensuing runoff onto the roadway of soil no longer anchored by those roots.

Traffic now is stopped for the tree cutters. In the future it will be stopped so workers can clear mud from the highway.

If there is a good, sound reason for this kind of "land management," I really would like to hear it. What about it, DOT?

Randall Murray
Gainesville

Lawsuit limits are missing key to cutting health costs
If we (our government) truly wants to cut costs in health care reform, our state and federal governments are going to have to do something with tort reform. We waste time, effort and our breath otherwise.

Jimmy Sisk
Gainesville

New burger, but no beef
The paper announced that Ted Turner has added to the menu in his restaurant: The Obama Burgers, a bison meat burger. He omitted one thing. The true makeup contents are 5 percent buffalo and 95 percent bull.

George Koesters
Gainesville